AIR pollution has already become a prime cause for concern for countries across the world. Unfortunately Bangladesh ranks among the countries with highest air pollution. Contamination of air, water, or soil is caused by substances that are harmful to living organisms. Pollution can occur naturally, for example through volcanic eruptions, or as the result of human activities like oil spillage or disposal of domestic and industrial waste. In Bangladesh air pollution along with water and noise pollutions is a direct result of human activities. The ongoing dust pollution, among other things, causes physical problem like asthma, lung infection, hay fever and sneezing, irritation of eyes etc. As a matter of fact, dust has turned out to be highly prevalent across the country, affecting millions of people including infants and children who are up to 100 times more susceptible to the health hazards of dust-borne pollutants than adults. A large amount of dust in the environment creates lung diseases like silicosis which is quite common among construction workers. This may lead to tuberculosis which is a life-threatening disease.
In my opinion, both government and people have a lot to contribute to solve the problem or at least keep it to the minimum by learning respiratory protection programme. Initially workers should be provided with personal protective gears like mask and disposable or washable work clothes at the worksite. There are lot of other things to be done in consultation with experts in the field. However, in an age of phenomenal scientific development, air pollution cannot be removed altogether, but it can be reduced to its minimum through human efforts and that is exactly what we need to do.
Sitara Nazneen
East West University, Dhaka
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